Former Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said he considers himself and politicians associated with his Development Plus group to have been removed from Law and Justice, despite the party leadership stopping short of formally announcing their expulsion.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday evening, Morawiecki described the latest decision by the Law and Justice, or PiS, Political Committee as an attempt to prolong what he called a damaging and poorly handled political drama.
“I accept that we have been removed,” Morawiecki said, referring to remarks made several days earlier by PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński.
The dispute centres on a declaration introduced by the party leadership requiring PiS members to confirm that they did not belong to political associations operating outside the party’s official structures. Politicians who failed to submit the declaration by the deadline faced the prospect of losing their membership.
PiS spokesman Rafał Bochenek said after Tuesday’s Political Committee meeting that the party had approved a list of 44 people who had not submitted a valid declaration on time. The group includes politicians connected with Morawiecki’s Development Plus association, as well as individuals who reportedly used an incorrect form.
However, the Political Committee did not itself issue final expulsion decisions. According to Bochenek, the cases were transferred to the party’s disciplinary spokesman, who is expected to examine each of them separately and complete the relevant formal and legal procedures.
The distinction between the party’s formal process and its leaders’ earlier political declarations has become one of the central points of contention.
Morawiecki considers Kaczyński’s words decisive
Morawiecki argued that Kaczyński had already made the situation clear during a press conference on Friday. The PiS leader said at the time that several dozen MPs had effectively given up their party membership by refusing to submit the required declarations.
Kaczyński also indicated that the matter was essentially settled and that the Political Committee would only need to complete a remaining formality.
Morawiecki said those remarks left little room for another interpretation.
“The lack of a signature on this loyalty declaration was supposed to result in our removal from the party,” the former prime minister said. He added that Kaczyński’s statement had been “absolutely unambiguous.”
Piotr Müller, a member of the European Parliament and one of Morawiecki’s closest political allies, adopted a similar position. He said Development Plus politicians regarded the words of the PiS chairman as clear and politically binding.
According to Müller, Kaczyński had stated that Development Plus members were no longer part of PiS and that the Political Committee was only expected to acknowledge the consequences of their refusal to sign the declaration.
The controversy therefore leaves the group in an unusual position. Morawiecki and his allies say the party leadership has already removed them, while PiS maintains that individual disciplinary proceedings must still be completed before formal decisions are taken. International reporting has also described the party’s position as unresolved, with the final procedural steps left to its disciplinary authorities.
Morawiecki steps down as ECR Party president
Morawiecki said the situation inside PiS was also behind his decision to resign as president of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party.
The former prime minister said he had previously informed the leaders of the national parties belonging to the European political organisation about his plans.
The ECR Party confirmed his resignation, saying Morawiecki had decided to step down to concentrate more fully on the political challenges facing Poland. The organisation thanked him for his leadership and said it respected his decision.
Morawiecki had led the ECR Party while simultaneously serving as one of the most recognisable senior figures in PiS. His departure from the European position is another indication that the internal conflict has moved beyond a temporary disagreement and may result in a broader reorganisation of Poland’s political right.
Development Plus prepares its response
Morawiecki made his comments before an evening meeting of Development Plus members that began shortly after 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
He said the organisation’s next steps would be discussed collectively and stressed that decisions would be taken in a more democratic manner. He did not immediately confirm whether Development Plus would establish a separate political party or parliamentary group.
The meeting ended after 10 p.m. Müller told journalists that participants had reached several decisions but would present them together at a press conference in the Sejm scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
He said the announcement would answer many of the questions surrounding the future of the association and its members.
Earlier on Tuesday, Morawiecki told Polsat News that further PiS politicians could join Development Plus. He said he had recently held several conversations and suggested that at least one of them had already produced a concrete result that could be announced shortly.
The group includes dozens of MPs as well as representatives in the Senate and European Parliament. The conflict emerged after Morawiecki developed Development Plus as a political and policy initiative intended to broaden the appeal of the Polish centre-right, particularly among younger voters, entrepreneurs and supporters of a stronger focus on economic development.
Former prime minister calls for focus on the government
Morawiecki sought to portray the dispute as a distraction from what he considers the opposition’s main responsibility: scrutinising the government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
He argued that most Polish voters were not interested in the internal procedures of political parties, disciplinary committees or disputes over membership declarations.
The former prime minister recalled that PiS had previously announced that he would be summoned before the party’s Ethics Committee. According to Morawiecki, he had received no such summons for approximately six months.
He said opposition politicians should instead concentrate on investigating the government, highlighting alleged irregularities and proposing alternative policies.
Morawiecki appealed directly to PiS and former United Right voters, asking whether they wanted the conservative opposition to continue concentrating on internal conflicts or to open a new chapter focused on holding the government to account.
He suggested that a broader “patriotic camp”, including Development Plus, should work on new policy proposals and possible solutions to Poland’s economic and political challenges.
A major test for Poland’s opposition
The conflict represents one of the most serious internal crises faced by PiS since it lost power in the 2023 parliamentary election.
Morawiecki served as Poland’s prime minister between 2017 and 2023 and remains one of the country’s best-known conservative politicians. His supporters have advocated a more economically focused and business-friendly political strategy, while the PiS leadership has sought to consolidate the party and prevent separate organisations from developing within or alongside it.
The confrontation intensified after party members were ordered to resign from external political associations or risk losing their PiS membership. Morawiecki and his allies refused to abandon Development Plus, arguing that the initiative was intended to strengthen rather than undermine the broader conservative movement.
The dispute may have significant consequences ahead of Poland’s next parliamentary election. A permanent split could divide the conservative electorate among PiS, a possible new organisation connected with Morawiecki and other parties operating to the right of the political spectrum.
For the moment, the formal status of the 44 politicians remains subject to the PiS disciplinary procedure. Politically, however, Morawiecki and his allies appear to believe that the separation has already taken place.
The Development Plus press conference on Wednesday is expected to clarify whether the group will continue as an association, form a separate parliamentary structure or begin building a new political party.
